Day 12 (Friday)

Shopping in Alice's Town was different to shopping in Las Vegas. Sara had been twice in the supermarket this week and both times she had the same woman waiting for her at the check-out and she even met two people again. Unlike Las Vegas people greeted her here, no matter that they didn't know her. Oh well the woman at the check-out had talked to her for a few minutes when she was in the shop on Tuesday. Now she knew every little shop in this town and every business. The name of the owner and their partner…or at least she heard all these names, she didn't remember them.

All Sara got today was some beer, her favorite vegie burger and a lot of tofu. As a little surprise for Kieran and Pat she bought two bars of chocolate. She wanted to get the boys home today so that nobody else had to drive to town.

Leaving her stuff in the car she stepped out and waited in front of the kindergarten. Some mother walked past her, smiled and got their children out. Sara had no idea if she was allowed to walk around the premises and she had no idea where to find Kieran. She would stay here and wait.

Ten minutes later Kieran came out of the building with a woman. When he saw Sara a big smile appeared on his face, he got his hand out of the woman's hand and ran toward Sara.

"Kieran!" The woman tried to stop him.

"Sara! Sara! Sara!" Sara got down on her knees, opened her arms and has seconds later the boy in her arms.

"Sara." He hugged her held on to her.

"Hello my big boy, how are you? How was the last day in kindergarten? It's time for holidays now."

"Excuse me, who are you?"

"Sara Sidle, I'm a friend of the family and wanted to get Kieran home."

"Jon called me that you'll pick him up, otherwise it wouldn't be possible. I need to see an I.D. anyway."

"Sure, no problem." Sara understood that they didn't let the children leave with somebody they didn't know. She got her I.D. out of her pocket.

"Las Vegas?"

"Sofia and me used to work together." This was a small town, she was sure the kindergarten teacher knew who Sofia was.

"You're here for a holidays?"

"Yes. Some time out from Las Vegas. Kieran, I've got something for you in the car. You can choose between the green and the blue package, only one of them, okay?"

"Kay." She let him down and he ran to the car.

"Chocolate."

"He'll love getting picked up by you even more than he already did."

"What is special when I pick him up when it's not the chocolate?"

"All the children get picked up by their mothers, Kieran is the only one who doesn't. His aunt comes along, sometimes his father or grandmother but there's never a mother waiting for him. Seeing you here today, it seemed like he saw his mother. He was so excited when I told him you would pick him up. It was the first time that he didn't look sad when he saw the other children picked up by their mothers."

"I'm not his mother." Sara had to swallow. This boy was so excited to see her that he forgot to be sad because his mother left him. It was nice to know but she was here only temporary. When her time here was over and she had to go back to Las Vegas, would it be hard for Kieran? She didn't want him to be unhappy.

"No, you're not but he likes you very much."

"I know him less than two weeks." And she felt like she knew him for ages. It was hard to think of that she wouldn't see him after the summer, when she was back in Las Vegas. She had to come back, she had to see Kieran again. There was no way she could leave the boy after he got so attached to her.

"Than you did something very right or you're very good with children."

"I played with him, I spend time with him and tell him stories about his grandmother in Las Vegas. I guess all little boys like stories of heroes who catch bad boys."

"And you're surprised he is that attached to you? You did everything a boy wants. He won't let you go home anymore."

"He's cute I might take him with me."

"I'm not sure his father will let you take his son away."

"That might be a problem but I've a few weeks to solve that problem."

"Sara!"

"I'm coming, Sweetie. Time to go and get the next boy. Have a nice holidays."

"You too. Enjoy Wyoming."

"I do." Sara walked to the car where she found Kieran sitting on the passenger's seat. His face was covered in chocolate.

"I didn't tell this dirty boy to get into the car, where's my Kieran?"

"Here." He smiled.

"I've to clean you, I can't take you home like this. Your father will smack my backside."

"Dad likes Sara."

"I like your dad too. Unfortunately that won't help me when he sees you like this. Come on, get on the backseat, we'll get Pat."

"Next to Sara."

"No Kieran, you'll sit on the backseat and you'll wear your seatbelt."

"Eatelt stupid."

"No your seatbelt isn't stupid, your seatbelt is very important. Without it you can be very bad hurt if we have an accident. Come on, be a good boy. Please."

"Sara too?"

"I'll wear my seatbelt too, yes." She got Kieran on the backseat, made him wear his seatbelt and drove to the day care center to get Patrick. With Kieran on her hand she walked in the building. Kieran knew where to go and guided her straight to Patrick.

"Hi I'm Sara Sidle, I'm here to pick Patrick up." She greeted the woman at the reception. Kieran had already seen his uncle and walked to him.

"Pat, home."

"I need your I.D. please."

"Sure."

"You're a relative?"

"A friend of Pat's mother."

"From Vegas."

"Yes we worked together."

"You're a cop?"

"No, a crime scene investigator. Same side of the fence."

"Sofia used to work as a CSI too, she told me ones."

"Yeah we were on the same shift. The police department's gain was our loss." Sara surprised herself by saying that. She had no problems to refer herself as a friend of Sofia, their relationship had changed from colleagues, or ex colleagues, to friends. But calling her leave the CSI lab a loss was something new. It was true but sometimes it could surprise her to hear this truth.

"Sara." Patrick came to her and she took him on her arms.

"Hey my blonde angel. Are you ready to come home?"

"Mom?"

"Your mother is at home. We'll prepare the dinner with Jamie and your mom will be back soon."

"Riding?"

"You want to ride? Well, we can see if you can have a ride before it's dinner time. Until that you can ride on my shoulders, do you want that?"

"Yes."

Sara took the boy and sat him on her shoulders.

"Don't show him things like this, he'll expect me to do the same."

"I won't be able to do that with him next summer, he'll be too big."

"You'll have to explain to him."

"I thought children want to be big, he should be happy when I tell him he's too big."

"Children are not different than adults. They want to be big if it helps them and babies if that gets them faster to what they want."

"True." Sara laughed. Children and adults wanted to pick the best parts of their age and were looking for ways to get the other things.

"And you wonder why Kieran calls you 'Tective Licious'." Sara smiled when Sofia came out of her room. She wore a white suit and her hair felt softly over her shoulders. After Cat had annoyed both women for a long time they had agreed on going out together tonight.

"I'm not a detective anymore."

"But you are delicious?" Sara grinned.

"I can take compliments and won't argue about that. You look not too bad yourself. I didn't know you packed something like this."

Sara looked down on herself. She wore a tight black jeans and a flannel shirt she had bought when she had been shopping in the afternoon. Officially she had been into town to get the boys home, unofficially she had been shopping for tonight. And she thought if she was in the wild north west of her country, she needed to look like a cowgirl.

"Thanks. I thought I fits the town."

"Wow, you both look great." Jon came out of his room. He had allowed Pat and Kieran to play computer for half an hour.

"Thanks. Are you alright here?"

"Mom, you're out for dinner and a few drinks, you'll be back in a couple of hours. We'll be fine."

"I've my cell phone with me, if anything…"

"Mom, we'll manage these four hours. Without a problem. Go out and have some fun. Sara, help her find a boyfriend."

"Jon!"

"What? A wonderful woman like you shouldn't be wasted being a single. Sara, I want a smart man for my mother. Decent looking, doesn't have to be a Mister Universe, it's more important that he has a good heart and a brain he uses. Mom needs somebody who is smart, who can have a conversation about more than football and beer, who is interested in many things, who won't try to tie to the house, who accepts that she's an independent woman and doesn't mind her huge family. Not a drunk, not a gambler, not playboy…"

"Jon, we won't find a guy like that, they don't exist." Sara sighed.

"I'm stand right in front of you, Babe, but I'm her son you need to find somebody like me."

"You're just as arrogant as she is." Sara laughed.

"I'm not arrogant." Sofia protested.

"Smug."

"I should stay here…"

"You two go now. Have fun." Jon kissed his mother and Sara. "I want to see you tipsy when you're back. Not drunk but not sober either."

"We know what we do." Sofia said.

"We partied in Las Vegas, don't worry about us." Sara giggled.

"I'll be awake when you're back."

"Now he sounds like a father who let his daughter go out for the first time." Sofia hugged her oldest son one more time and left the house with Sara. Time to go to town, for a dinner and a few drinks in a pub. It was Friday night, there would be a lot of people around. They had reserved a table in a good steak house that also served salads and after that they would choose between a pool hall, a pub with dance music or a kind of club they both knew they would be too old for.